With attendances reaching
three million and £2.5 billion wagered on races each year, it is no
surprise that greyhound racing remains one of the country's most popular
spectator sports

Twenty five tracks offer quality restaurants, bars and
corporate facilities envied by the rest of the entertainment industry. Between
them, they host 70,000 races a year, each featuring six beautiful, sleek
greyhounds racing with breathtaking speed and agility. With races taking place
every fifteen minutes at most tracks, its non-stop action

American
Owen Patrick Smith introduced greyhound racing to Britain in its modern day
format. Having invented the very first mechanical lure and circular track in
the US in 1925, Belle Vue Stadium of Manchester opened in 1926.

History

Owen Patrick Smith
together with politician Brigadier-General Alfred Critchley and entrepreneur
Sir William Gentle set up the Greyhound Racing Association (the GRA) in 1926.
The GRA built the very first purpose built greyhound racing stadium in Britain
in the Gorton area of Manchester in 1926. Belle Vue Stadium, as it was called,
held its first meeting on the 24th July 1926 and 1700 people went through the
gates to watch six races of seven greyhounds take place. A red greyhound named
Mistley won the first race by eight lengths at odds of 6/1. Within weeks crowds
of 11,000 per meeting were clambering to see this exciting new sport

By
the end of 1926 the GRA was able to repay an initial bank loan and begin
planning expansion into London. This was White City, a stadium originally built
for the London Olympics in 1908, and was bought and opened for greyhound racing
in 1927. Later that year White City held the very first Greyhound Derby with a
prize of £1,000. The Derby is still the biggest race in the greyhound
racing calendar and is now held at Wimbledon stadium in south west London.

In 1928 the National Greyhound Racing Club was set up to establish and
enforce a set of rules for racing. Greyhound Racing very quickly became an
extremely popular pastime with superstars such as Mick the Miller getting hero
status. The boom of racing was however checked by the Second World War. When it
that ended expension returned and the boom continued throughout the 50s and
60s.

With the advent of televised horse racing attendances began to fall
in the late 60s and a general slump in the 70s caused several tracks to close.

In 1979 the British Greyhound Racing Board was set up to enable various
stake holders in the sport to discuss the promotion and improvement of the
greyhound racing industry, to consult with the NGRC regarding the rules of
racing and to improve the care and welfare of the greyhound. On the 1st January
2009 the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (the GBGB) became operational, taking
on the functions of both the British Greyhound Racing Board and the National
Greyhound Racing Club.

As a betting product, greyhound racing has never
been more popular. Some £2.5bn is staked on the outcome of greyhound
races each year, but a falling percentage of that is being traded at the
tracks. As of 1st September 2007, the Gambling Commission came into being,
introducing under its licence conditions many of the new laws set out in the
2005 Gambling Act. Among them, licensed betting shops became able to trade
until 22.00 every evening throughout the year. Prior to that, evening opening
of betting shops had been restricted to May-August.

A percentage of off
course betting turnover (currently 0.6% of turnover) is returned to the sport
via a voluntary levy. It amounts to approximately £12m per annum and is
used to finance welfare and integrity work, plus promotion of the sport and
commercial activities.

Greyhound Colours

Trap

Colour
Description

Red jacket
with a white number

Blue jacket
with a white number

White jacket
with a blue number

Black jacket
with white number

Orange jacket
with a black number

Black and
white tripe jacket with a red number

How To
Bet

Betting on Greyhound Races : The most popular way to bet
is on the tracks own tote but many punters like to bet with the often
colourful bookmakers who ply their trade usually by the side of the track. Most
bookmakers will only accept win bets and punters take the price on the bookies
board at the time they strike the bet.

Tote Bets

Win only
- Choosing a greyhound to be first past the post.

Place
only - Choosing a greyhound to be either first or second.

Forecast
- Picking two greyhounds to finish first and second. A popular bet is a
reversed forecast which means your choice can be first and second in
either order.

Trio or
trifecta - Very much the same as a forecast but, as the name implys,
punters have to pick the first three home.

All-Ways
Forecast - Pick 3 dogs & predict the 1st and 2nd in ANY order which is
six bets in one. If any of the three greyhounds fill first and second, the bet
has been successful.

All-Ways
Trio - Pick 3 dogs & predict the 1st, 2nd and 3rd in ANY order which is
six bets in one.

Speciality
bets - Most tracks run Jackpots and other unusual bets which involve the
outcome of more than one race. Further information on these types of wagers can
be obtained from the track you plan to visit. e.g. Pick 6 Jackpot means picking
the winner of the six jackpot leg races using the card provided.

The
Races

Greyhound Race types
: At the top of each racecard there will be information telling you the name of
the race, the time it will be off, the race number (sometimes up to 15), the
race distance in metres and then the type of race. The type of race will be
described by alpha-numeric codes as follows:

OR

An open race
for any grade of dog, usually the best greyhounds

A
(1-12)

Graded race
for dogs of similar ability. Appears as A1, A2, etc.

P

Puppy races
for dogs of between 15 and 24 months old

HCP

Handicap race
where dogs get a distance handicap starting from different
positions

H

Hurdle race
where dogs jump at least three hurdles

S
(1-6)

Six bend race.
Appears as S1, S2, etc

The
Race Card

Greyhound Race Card : For each race dogs are listed in trap order
under the heading of the time of the race, the prize money, the distance and
then the type of race.

Date/Track

Last time
raced and where

Dist

Distance
raced

T
(or Tp)

The trap the
greyhound ran from

Brk-T

Break time to
leave the traps

STm

Sometimes a
split time is in a card, that is the time to reach the winning line for the
first time

Pos

Often called
bend order and labelled SPl shows the position through each bend

Fin

Winning line
position

Dist

Sometimes
labelled By, this is distance won or beaten by.

Winner

Winner of race
or second if sample greyhound came first

Remarks

Comments on
what happened to the runner during the race

W-T

The time the
race was won in

G

Going. The
track officials view expressed in hundreths of a second

Wgt

The greyhounds
weight in kilos

Odds

Price returned
by the SP compiler after each race

Class

Class of the
greyhound. Usually A1, A2 etc.. T stands for trial

Clc-T

Calculated
time taking into account the going

The
Form

Greyhound Race Form
: The form of a greyhound has to be judged from past race performances. Many
factors come into play for punters assesing the current ability of a dog. These
include how fresh the dog is or how consistent the dog is. Offiical track
handicappers make an assesment of how slow or fast they think the track is
running on the day and add time (in positive or negative amounts of hundeths of
a second) to a dogs time to get the calculated time which appears on the
racecard form guide.

Many punters assume their own handicap for a track
and it may vary from race to race depending on the changing conditions. Thus a
different calculated time is found and dogs can be rated accordingly. This
requires a lot of work if you are to take it seriously and part with your
money.

Approximately 10,000 greyhounds
retire from racing each year, typically between three and four years of age.
Many never make the grade or retire at a much younger age as a result of minor
injury. A great many owners will adopt greyhounds into their homes or arrange
for them to live out their retirement at a kennel.

The Greyhound Trust
works extremely hard to encourage owners to take their responsibility for their
dogs seriously, and we also encourage the public to consider taking on retired
greyhounds.

A greyhound is the original low-maintenance companion
animal. Despite their well-deserved reputation as formidable athletes, they do
not require large amounts of exercise: the vast majority are perfectly content
with two short walks a day and they just love to relax on a comfortable
bed.

They are short haired dogs and require little grooming. Many people
who suffer from an allergic reaction to dogs in general may find that
greyhounds do not have this effect.

Greyhounds are placid animals and
therefore are particularly good with children; they also make excellent pets
for the elderly because they do not require large amounts of
exercise.